Quebec police use stun gun to arrest Nunavik man

Use of a Taser leads to the arrest by provincial police officers Aug. 3 in the Hudson Strait community of Kangiqsujuaq, seen here. (PHOTO COURTESY OF NUNAVIK TOURISM)

A Taser, with cartridge removed, making an electric arc between its two electrodes. (Photo by Chris Browning via gunnewsdaily.com)

A team from the Sûreté du Québec provincial police force managed to subdue a Kangiqsujuaq man, 31, early Aug. 3, with use of a conducted electrical weapon or stun gun.

The man had barricaded himself inside a residence in the community of about 700 people on Nunavik’s Hudson Strait, said SQ spokesperson Marie-Josée Ouellet.

The SQ team arrived Aug. 2 in Kangiqsujuaq, at the request of the Kativik Regional Police Force, with a tactical squad and a police dog.

They set up a perimeter around the residence upon arriving Aug. 2, and started negotiations with the man at about 7:30 p.m., Ouellet said.

The team used a conducted electrical weapon — usually referred to by the brand name, Taser — on the man before arresting him roughly 12 hours later, at 7:30 a.m. Aug. 3, she said.

Tasers are usually employed when there’s a danger to police and were used 47 times by various police forces in Quebec in 2014.

Tasers, which pass electricity through a pair of wires, can incapacitate a person through up to five centimetres of clothing.

In Canada, only police officers are allowed to purchase and use Tasers.

Officers from the major crime division interrogated the man, who appeared in front of a judge by telephone and will remain in custody before his first court appearance.

“He could face charges of mischief, arson and threatening police officers,” Ouellet said.

Sources in Kangiqsujuaq have identified the man as Paulusie Ilimasaut.

They say the incident is linked to the influx of money into town profit-sharing through the Raglan Agreement, a model for future Inuit impact and benefits agreements, signed in 1995 with the nickel mine located between Kangiqsujuaq and Salluit.